this means so much and we saw what a mess was made of it by paul ryan's budget, where the actual future of medicare was in doubt with his premium support plan. we don't want to go near that. we want to make sure that medicare, at the end of the day, is a program that is solvent, and we can count on it for generations 20 come. >> so if i'm a republican lawmaker watching this interview i'm saying, okay, he basically has put nothing on the table that's an entitlement. so all this talk about democrat -- and this is talk by the way from you, you're the one who said, you know, we need to be honest on our side of the aisle, we need to make meaningful reforms in medicare and medicaid without compromising the integrity of the program. you and i talked about that not long ago. >> yes. >> if i'm listening to this and i'm a republican lawmaker i'm saying he's put nothing on the table in the short term. we're going to go over this fiscal cliff. >> we don't need to do that. the point i want to make is yes, entitlements need to be part of a long-term strategy but do it in a thoughtful way. we're down